the curious grammar of Ohio

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:25 PM -0400 10/27/04, Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>Needs looked into indeed!  Since I've been reading Appalachia-based novels
>lately (because they're good, first, and because I'm looking for
>representations of dialect, second), I'll make a point of getting this book
>and reading it over Winter break.  Thanks for the tip!

Oops.  Unlike Beverly above, I obviously read Arnold's message too
quickly and missed the fact that the last sentence obviated the point
of my response.  Nevermind.

Larry

>
>At 11:50 AM 10/27/2004, you wrote:
>>from David Blaustein's review of Keith Banner's The Smallest People
>>Alive, in the Lambda Book Report, August/September 2004, p. 25:
>>-----
>>Another unifying idea is simply the context of the book: The stories
>>are all set in Ohio, where Banner lives.  Banner uses the curious
>>grammar of the region to great effect throughout his book, employing a
>>series of voices that may not come in for much attention by the
>>publishing centers of this country, making a lie of that often repeated
>>idea that regional differences are being subsumed into a standard (and
>>presumably bland) way of life in this country.  Whether Banner is
>>comfortable being labeled as a regional writer or not, he has produced
>>a work that is wholly of a specific place and time.
>>-----
>>
>>how frustrating is this?  what *part(s)* of Ohio?  (the state has one
>>very big dialect-area split, and of course local varieties.)  i'm
>>guessing the appalachian and ohio river valley east/south, on the basis
>>that Banner is a West Virginia native and that the book was published
>>by Carnegie Mellon University Press, but that's just a guess; we'll
>>have to look at the book to find out.
>>
>>and *what* "curious grammar"?  this question really needs looked into.
>>
>>arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)